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Australian Referee Appointed to FIFA Women's World Cup

Referee Tammy Ogston will create history later this year when she officiates at her third FIFA Women's World Cup in China.

Referee Tammy Ogston will create history later this year when she officiates in China at her third FIFA Women's World Cup .

The Brisbane resident will be the first Australian to officiate at three World Cups and will join only a handful of referees to achieve this feat. The 37-year-old has previously attended the 1999 and 2003 editions of the tournament in the USA and most recently became the first Australian referee to control a FIFA World Stars match when China hosted the World XI last April in a match which coincided with the draw for the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Joining Ogston will be assistant referee's Sarah Ho of Sydney and Adelaide-based Airlie Keen with the latter set to make her second consecutive appearance at the world's premier female football tournament.

The Matildas will be looking to take their impressive form from last year's qualifiers into the World Cup. On that occasion they failed by the narrowest of margins to become the first Aussie team to claim an Asian Championship when World Cup hosts China won the final on penalties after a 2-2 draw in Adelaide.

Australia will open their campaign against Ghana on September 12 in Hangzhou, followed by Norway on September 15 in the same city, before the final group match against Canada on September 19 in Chengdu.
Meanwhile, one of the Hyundai A-League's senior referees, Matthew Breeze has been appointed to August's FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea. Breeze has officiated at a number of previous FIFA tournaments including the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. The same two assistant referees from that tournament, Jim Ouliaris and Matthew Cream, will join Breeze in Korea.

It will be a busy period for the Sydney-based Police Prosecutor who will officiate alongside reigning Hyundai A-League referee of the year Mark Shield at the AFC Asian Cup this month.

Australia is the only nation to have two referees selected to officiate at Asia's premier football event.

Consistent performances from Australian match officials in AFC club and international competition have led to numerous appointments since Australia joined the AFC last year.